Malibu Fire Advice

The Malibu Life January 14, 2022

As we all go through a major situation here in Malibu, we are thankful for everyones prayers and messages. We are devasted that our city has been hurt and for those that experienced loss in this fire. However, we need to mobilize, start making decisions, and come together as a community.

Information

In regards to your property, you might be totally fine, have smoke damage, or have lost your home. Regardless, here are some of the steps that you need to know about:

If you have been displaced at all, save your receipts because your insurance company will reimburse you.
Call your insurance company to get your policy and claim number. Also, if you need one, you may ask them for a cash advance.
Keep in mind that there will be high demand for repair work so if you have smoke damage be prepared to be out of your home for a few weeks.
Once you get your policy and claim number, write them down. We suggest starting a google drive and keeping everything organized in this folder. You can use an app called CamScanner to take pictures of the receipts and send it as a PDF to the drive.
Give your insurance agent anyones names who will need authorization to your account.
You will want to verify with your insurance agent that all your contact information is correct.

Questions

Ask your insurance agent these questions:

What is your deductible?
What is your cash advance?
What is your alternative housing budget amount? - This can get tricky so get that number and work backwards. If your budget is $600k and you will be displaced for three years because your house burned down, make sure you stay within budget over time and plan accordingly.
What is your other structure budget? (sheds, barns, extra structures)
What is your content number? (personal items, what would fall out if you turned your house upside down and shook it) -Now is the time to look for any recent photos you might have that shows what was inside the house.

Your insurance agent will put you in touch with a third party company that handles alternative housing, CRS being a big one but you might get a different one. They will then contact you separately from your insurance company. Your insurance company will then come out to your house to do their work and see if your house is still safe if it hasn’t burned down as their can still be structural damage.

We Are Here to Help!

Although this is a devastating time, Malibu will rebuild. We will come together as a community and never give up! We have a team of ten that spans Malibu and all the neighboring cities and are ready to help you with whatever you may need help with! Also, if you have a property that you would consider leasing, please reach out to us and let us know.